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news, and more from our industry thought leaders.
Reports and Research
Expert Advice
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Keeping you in the know with the latest articles, research, and industry news.
Happy International Women’s Day!
In honor of International Women’s Day, we at SPARK wanted to recognize all the women making a difference in the finance and technology world. Together, through hard work and perseverance, we’re revolutionizing small business lending! Keep up the good work ladies! #internationalwomensday
On Demand Video: SPARK 6.6 Release Webinar
Watch as we cover what’s new, what’s fixed, and what’s changed on the SPARK Loan Origination Platform since the 6.5 Release in December 2018. New Features in the SPARK 6.6 Release include: SPARK 6.6 Release Webinar For a closer read about some of the newest SPARK features, visit our News page!
Community Reinvestment Fund, USA Wins Small Business Leader Award from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, the Surdna Foundation, and Opportunity Finance Network
Recognized for transformative financing strategies in disinvested communities FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATLANTA (October 26, 2016) – Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, the Surdna Foundation and Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) today announced that Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF) is a reci...
Challenges our Small Business Borrowers Face (part 2)
This is the second in a two-part series. During our JumpStart process consulting assessments, we have heard some common threads around the challenges underserved small businesses face and how that impacts their ability to secure financing. I was able to bucket them into six categories and today I...
How Online Loan Origination Software Can Help Mission-driven Lenders Appeal to New Customers
The continued evolution of technology and the explosion of online small business lenders has many mission-driven lenders, CDFIs and CDFI banks, searching for ways to compete and remain viable. Small business borrowers have a ton of options and expect a quick and seamless experience. On the other ...
Challenges our Small Business Borrowers Face (part 1)
Through our unique experiences as both a direct small business lender and process optimization consultant, we’re often asked to provide our perspective on the challenges today’s small business borrowers face when attempting to access capital. Over time, we have observed and documented six common ...
Online Small Business Lender News
As part of its Q1 earnings press release, the board of directors of Lending Club announced last week that it had accepted the resignation of Renaud Laplanche as Chairman and CEO following an internal review of sales of $22 million in near-prime loans to a single investor. This announcement also p...
Recent webinar Q&A: Turning your website into a lead generating tool
On Thursday, April 21st, Spark held a webinar, CDFIs: Turn Your Website Into a Lead Generation Tool. We discussed lead generation and the customer decision journey, including how to drive customers to your website, efficiently collect information to qualify them as a lead for your small business ...
On Demand Video: Webinar for CDFIs: Grow Your Revenue by Selling Community Advantage Loans on the Secondary Market
Whether you are a Community Advantage (CA) lender or thinking about becoming one, this seminar will provide you with valuable information on how to grow your balance sheet and increase liquidity so you can make even more high impact loans in your community. Our experts will help you understand th...
On Demand Video: Optimize Your Process to Maximize Impact
How efficient is your current small business loan operation? Do you have insight into the cost of customer acquisition? Are you measuring the cost of loan origination? Is everything done manually or do you have multiple systems, each dealing with a different aspect of the process? Alt...